


happy birthday

by danhoweiis, twoheadlights (fizzfic)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Birthday, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, M/M, dnpDADS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:54:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21794086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danhoweiis/pseuds/danhoweiis, https://archiveofourown.org/users/fizzfic/pseuds/twoheadlights
Summary: it's the twins' fifth birthday.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27
Collections: simon & seb





	happy birthday

**Author's Note:**

> charlotte: dan and phil would be the best parents ever and would do absolutely anything to make their kids birthdays the best don't try and convince me otherwise
> 
> more twins!!!!! hope u love them as much as we do

“How many more minutes?” Seb asked with a yawn.

Dan pressed his phone, the screen flashing up with ‘23:42’

“Another-” He yawned. “20 minutes to go.”

“That’s ageeeeeeees.” Simon whined. 

They were all sat in Dan and Phil’s bed, old episodes of Adventure Time playing on the TV as they waited patiently for midnight. Well, Dan and Phil were waiting patiently, their 4 ‘soon-to-be-5’ year old sons were not.

“Can we have another biscuit please?” Seb asked, “I’m hungry.”

“Absolutely not! It’s nearly midnight and definitely way past your bedtime.” Dan responded.

“But you and Da have biscuits after dinner. Why can’t we?” Seb said, tilting his head to one side as he looked at Dan and Phil.

“If Seb is getting a biscuit I would like one too.” Simon added.

“Nobody is getting any biscuits.” Phil said, a loud yawn escaping his lips. He turned to glare at Dan. “We are never doing this again.” He said, just quiet enough so the twins wouldn’t hear him.

When the boys had insisted they stay up until midnight to see in their birthdays Phil had been all up for the idea. But after an entire evening of trying to keep two 4 year olds entertained he was exhausted. How on earth were they still awake when all Phil wanted to do was sleep?

“Old man,” Dan teased, nudging him slightly. “I agree, though.”

“How much longer nooooooooooooooooow?” Seb asked again, tugging on Dan’s arm.

“Seb, you just asked me. There’s still 20 minutes left.”

Seb sighed dramatically and flopped down onto the bed. “Waiting for birthdays is boring.”

“If you boys are tired you can always go to bed?” Phil suggested hopefully.

“NO!” 

“Okay, okay…” 

But pretty soon, the twins couldn’t stifle their yawns anymore. Only five minutes later, Simon started to snuggle up to Dan, getting comfortable. 

“Si, _noooo_ ,” Seb complained, trying to pull his brother awake, one of his own eyes shut. “We - we gotta stay,” he yawned. 

Dan and Phil smiled at each other. Phil ran his hand through Seb’s hair. “You know,” he said. “It’s not _really_ your birthday until the sun’s out in the morning.” 

“Really?”

“Mhm. Your dad and I only started celebrating the day after we’d had a good night of sleep. So we were well-rested and full of energy to party all day long.” 

“By party, he means play video games and then go out to a restaurant if we were feeling fancy,” Dan added. “But he’s right.” 

“So...so we can sleep?” 

Phil nodded. “You can sleep.” 

-

“Simon, Simon what time is it?” Seb whispered loudly to his brother who was lying in the bed next to him. 

“I don’t know,”

“Is it too early to wake up Dad and Da?”

Simon sat up on his bed and pulled the curtain back to peek out of the window. “The sun is shining so I think we should wake them up.”

Seb grinned. “Come on then!” He said excitedly as he jumped out of bed.

They creeped across their room and opened the door, being careful it didn’t make any noise and slowly made their way down the hallway to their dads bedroom.

They pushed the door open slowly and were met with Dan and Phil lying curled up in bed.

“On the count of three, we run and jump on them okay Simon?” Seb whispered.

Simon nodded.

“1...2...3…” Seb counted before both boys let out a loud scream and ran towards the bed, climbing up onto it, and jumped on top of Dan and Phil. Their dads woke up immediately of course, and Dan screamed bloody murder. 

“What the - kids!”

“It’s our birthday, it’s our birthday!” They chanted as they continued to jump up and down.

Phil chuckled. “Do you think it’s their birthday?” He said to Dan. 

“Hm, I’m not sure, I didn’t hear anything about it,” Dan replied, smirking. 

Simon pouted and crossed his arms. “You promised us a special breakfast.” 

“Oh, I guess we did!” 

The twins bounced off the bed and ran to their bedroom to pull on their slippers and dressing gowns. 

“We should probably get up before they start trying to make the pancakes themselves.” Phil said, stretching his arms above his head and yawning.

Dan shot up out of bed and grabbed the first hoodie he found, (a pink one with an embroidered ‘D&P’ on the front) and pulled it over his head. He took both twins’ hands and led them downstairs, Phil padding along behind them. 

In the days leading up to this one, they’d gone out and bought ingredients to prepare. So as Simon and Sebastian sat at the dining table, Dan and Phil worked to make stacks and stacks of fluffy pancakes. They tried to cut them into star shapes, but their skills...well, they weren’t really up to that so they ended up with formless blobs (ha). They got out all sorts of toppings: Nutella, fruits like bananas and berries, maple syrup, honey - and that’s just for the kids. On the side, Phil fried bacon and eggs for him and Dan. 

“Oh, it smells divine,” Sebastian says, eyes closed and sniffing. 

“ _Divine_ ,” Dan repeated, sitting down, eyebrows raised. “That’s a fancy word, Seb.”

“Of course, I’m five now, I need to speak good,” Seb replied. 

Both Dan and Phil struggled to stifle their laughter as Phil brought over a plate of pancakes to the table and sat down, glaring at Dan.

“What?”

“Divine? He’s definitely learnt that word from you. I’ve never said divine in my life.” Phil said.

Seb nodded as he picked up 3 pancakes and dropped them onto his plate. “I heard him say it yesterday when he was eating the special biscuits.”

“Those are _my_ biscuits!” Phil said, sounding annoyed.

Dan’s red patch flared up on his cheek and he stuttered. “W-we had run out of the normal biscuits.”

“Well you’re buying me some more, those cost me nearly £4 from Waitrose.”

They ate their breakfast while the twins talked animatedly about how school was, and looking forward to seeing their grandparents and uncle Martyn and aunty Corny. 

“Have you boys had enough pancakes then?” Dan asked as he started to collect the plates.

The twins both nodded and patted their tummies.

“Well, suppose we’d better get dressed then hadn’t we?” Phil added. “I can’t think of anything else we need to do this morning.”

“Nooooooo, there is Da!” Seb whined. “We need to open our presents!”

Dan chuckled from the kitchen. “Nobody said anything about presents.”

The twins both pouted and folded their arms, almost in sync which if it wasn’t so adorable would have been slightly creepy.

“Oh of course! The presents!” Phil said. “Why don’t you boys go and have a look in the living room and see if there’s anything in there.”

The boys jumped from their seats and ran to the living room. All that could be heard was a loud gasp. “Da, there’s millions of presents in here!” Simon’s voice rang.

“I hope not.” Dan said as he and Phil made their way to the living room.

In front of the fireplace there were 2 large, identically wrapped presents surrounded by a few other smaller gifts.

“Which one can we open first?” Simon asked.

“Whichever you like.” Phil said as he and Dan sat down on the couch.

“We should open the big one first, then this one and then this one.” Sebastian said quietly, pointing to the gifts in turn.

Simon nodded and they walked over to the largest presents first and began pulling off the wrapping paper. Underneath the paper was a large box with a picture of a blue bike on it. The boys gasped and began to tear away at the paper on each of their gifts.

“It’s a bike, it’s a bike!” Seb said, jumping up and down. “Can I ride it right now?” He asked, turning to Dan and Phil, a wide smile on his face.

“Not right now and definitely not indoors. Maybe later.” Dan said.

“Do you like them?” Phil asked.

The boys nodded and grinned, turning back to their gifts, a look of wonder in their eyes. “It’s amazing.” Simon said quietly.

“You’ve still got some more to open.”

“Oh,” Sebastian said, almost as if he had forgotten that there were still more presents to open.

The other gifts included: a Pokemon plush toy each, a toy train for Simon and a toy tractor for Sebastian.

“There’s only one left.” Simon said. “Who’s it for?” He asked.

“That ones for both of you.” Dan said.

The boys looked at each other and began to unwrap it together. It was another box that had pictures of stars and lights on it. The twins looked puzzled and they looked up at Dan and Phil.

“What is it?”

“It’s called a planetarium.” Phil said, getting off the couch and kneeling in front of them. “So we have to wait until it’s dark, and then we plug it in and it shows the stars all over your bedroom ceiling and walls.”

The twins looked so amazed Phil couldn’t hide the smile from his face. Since adopting them space and the stars had been something the twins had been obsessed with. They had begged Dan and Phil for glow in the dark stars for their room and the one time they had been to visit Phil’s parents on the Isle the twins couldn’t stop looking up at the sky and the stars.

“That’s really cool.” Seb said. “It’ll be like our room is in space!” he giggled.

“Exactly!” Dan said nodding. 

The twins got up and hugged Dan and Phil tightly, thanking them in unison repeatedly. 

“You’re very welcome,” Phil said, laughing. “Now, you both should go get ready, everyone will be here soon.”

“Can we wear whatever we want for the party?” Sebastian asked.

“Of course, it’s your party.”

Dan glared across at Phil. “Why would you say that? They’ll probably pick their Iron Man costumes now.”

Sebastian shook his head. “I won’t! I want to wear my party shirt!”

Dan whipped his head around to look at Seb. “And which shirt is that?”

“The one with dogs wearing jumpers on it. It’s my favourite.”

“Well, if Seb is wearing his party shirt then can I wear mine?” Simon piped up.

Dan sighed in defeat. “Yes yes, why not. Do you want me and Da to help you?”

“No.” Sebastian said as he grabbed Simon by the arm. “We’re 5 now so we can do things by ourself.”

Phil laughed as he watched the boys leave and go up the stairs. “Guess that’s us out of a job.”

-

Simon and Sebastian looked like they were having the time of their lives. They showed off their new toys to the kids from their nursery who’d been invited, and ran around playing with them. It wasn’t a grand party by any means - just a few kids and their parents, and of course Dan and Phil’s families as well.

Oliver was the first to arrive, turning up at the door carrying a box that seemed twice as big as he was.

“What on earth is in there?” Dan asked as he greeted him.

“You’ll see…” 

The twins squealed in excitement as they ripped the paper off of Oliver’s gift, whilst Oliver sat looking smug in the armchair. Dan glared at him, mouthing the words ‘I will literally kill you’ as the twins tried to open the box which contained a brand new drum set.

An hour later and the party was in full swing and their house was filled with family and friends alike.

“Oh, this is wonderful,” Kath exclaimed, looking around the house. It was hard to visit from the Isle of Man regularly, so Phil’s parents rarely got to see them. “Daniel, I guess the artwork on the walls is your doing?”

“Of course, I _am_ the cultured one in this relationship,” Dan replied solemnly. 

Phil nudged him hard in retaliation. 

The twins ran over and hugged their grandparents, and squealed at the gifts they’d gotten from them. 

“Keep them in the pile with the others!” Phil called out as they ran off again, like the wind. 

Dan and Phil went from splitting up to greeting guests together, talking to everyone as much as they could. They’d never seen themselves as the kind of people to do this, but since the twins came into their life, they decided that they would do literally anything to make the little boys happy. And if that meant going, “why yes, we _have_ been together a long time, can you believe it?” to a disbelieving Shannon from across the road, they would do it. 

There was a loud cry from inside the living room, followed by laughter. They all followed the noise to find Sebastian in front of a small crowd, distraught at his shirt which now had a huge stain on the front. There was a plastic glass on the floor, and a trail of mango juice on the floor.

“Oh dear,” Dan murmured. “This is why we have laminate flooring and not carpet.” He looked pointedly at Phil, then walked to his child. 

“Mum, are you _crying_?” Phil asked, bewildered. 

Kath sniffed and shook her head. “No, no, I’m okay.” She nodded towards Dan fussing over Sebastian and his stained shirt. “I was just thinking. I wanted so much for you and your brother, and then Dan. And you’re doing so well and,” she looked at Phil and cupped his face with one of her hands, “I’m proud of you, child.” 

Phil rolled his eyes, but internally he had to keep it together to not also cry alongside his mother. He wasn’t an overly emotional person, but she knew exactly how to tug at his heartstrings. “Silly,” he said instead. “Thanks, mum.”

-

This was probably the biggest social gathering Dan and Phil had ever hosted and it was going surprisingly well. Everyone had drinks, there was food for everyone and most importantly the twins seemed happy.

“You know I never would have thought of you as the hosting type.” Karen said, walking over to Dan who was tidying away some empty plates in the kitchen.

“I didn’t either but we wanted to make their first birthday with us special. I don’t think we’ll be doing it again.”

They both laughed just as Sebastian ran over to them and jumped up, gesturing for Dan to pick him up. Dan lifted him up and looked at him. "Everything okay bud?" 

"Can we play with our trains pleeeeeease? I want to show Norman my train track." 

"Sure. Just don't make too much of a mess okay?" 

Seb grinned and hugged Dan tightly before jumping from his arms and running off.

"They've really taken to you haven't they?" Dan's mum commented.

Dan nodded. "He definitely has. Simon is still a little…" He trailed off.

"What?"

"He...he’s not shown us much affection. He lets us hug him and kiss him but he just hasn’t really reciprocated it. And the adoption worker said that was totally normal and fine, and he’ll do it in his own time but...it still hurts a little. We just want to know he's happy."

Karen smiled and reached to pat Dan on the arm reassuringly. "I'm sure he is. You've given them a good life."

Their tender moment was interrupted by Phil, who came rushing over to them and whispered into Dan’s ear. “Are we doing the cake now?”

“Why are you whispering? They can’t hear us.”

“You can never be too sure.”

Dan rolled his eyes. “Fine, yes we’ll do the cake now. Mum, could you get everyone into the lounge please?”

“Of course.” Karen said, nodding as she headed into the lounge.

Dan and Phil had baked the cake themselves. One afternoon when the boys were in nursery they had taken time off work and spent almost 4 hours making it. It was in the shape of a star and was covered in white icing, hundreds and thousands, edible glitter and fondant icing stars. On the top were two large candles in the shape of a number ‘5’ (Phil had gone out and bought those, not actually realising before putting them on the cake it looked like a 55th birthday cake, rather than two 5’s.)

The lights in the lounge were turned off and miraculously Karen had gotten both the boys to sit quietly on the couch, surrounded by their friends and family. Dan walked in carrying the cake and a chorus of people singing ‘Happy Birthday’ rang around the room.

“Ok, now you have to make a wish when you blow out the candles.” Dan said, placing the cake down on the coffee table in front of them.

“I’m going to wish fo-”

“No, no, no Sebastian! You can’t tell us or it won’t come true.” Kath said. “You have to say it in your head so nobody can hear.”

Dan took the opportunity to glare across at Phil. “If our kids end up being superstitious I am blaming it entirely on you and your mum.”

The twins inhaled loudly before blowing out the candles and everyone cheered.

“Can we have some now please Da?” Simon asked, “I’m hungry!”

-

After everyone had left, the twins insisted that they watch a movie, and Dan and Phil were yet to be resistant to their wide eyes and earnest looks, so they found themselves all cosied up on the sofa, watching _Moana_. It was one of their favourite movies, and they knew all the songs and watched every scene in rapt attention, like it was the first time. 

Close to the end of it, Dan felt a weight on his left side, and glanced to find Phil nestled under his arm, eyes closed, breathing deeply. His smile grew as he noticed Simon also leaning against Phil, and Sebastian clinging onto his brother’s arm as he too had fallen asleep. The scene broke Dan’s heart a little bit, and he quickly grabbed his phone and angled himself carefully so that Phil wouldn’t wake up, and clicked a lot of pictures, making sure all their faces could be seen. He sent them to the family group chat with both their parents, and siblings, and then snuggled closer to Phil. 

“Hey,” he whispered. “Phil, wake up. We can’t all sleep here.”

“Wha-” Phil opened his eyes, unfocused for a second before he looked at Dan. “What time is it?”

“Late. C’mon, we need to take the boys up too.” 

Slowly but surely Phil got up. They both carried a twin each over their shoulders and took them to their room. Sebastian immediately turned over and stayed asleep the whole time, too deep in his dreamland presumably. 

But Simon was a light sleeper, so when Dan laid him down into bed and covered him with his blanket, he rubbed his eyes, and blinked up at them.

“It’s okay, go to sleep, bud,” Dan whispered, stroking his hair. 

“W-wait.” Simon said, yawning a little. 

“What is it?”

“I just - wanted to say thank you again.” He said as Dan picked up his favourite toy elephant and placed it in his arms.

“Well, of course kiddo, we -”

“I love you both very much.” 

Dan and Phil were stunned into silence - but only for a few seconds. They immediately leaned down and kissed Simon on the forehead one after the other. 

“We love you too, Simon,” Phil said, smiling at him. 

“So much,” Dan added. 

-

“Good party then?” Phil asked once they were back downstairs and sat on the couch.

Dan hummed in agreement, looking around at the toys that had been strewn across the floor. “Good party. But we’re never doing that again right? I am not making that many sandwiches ever again in my life.”

Phil chuckled. “If you say so.”

“And Oliver isn’t allowed to give them presents anymore.”

“Agreed.”

“A drum set!” 

“It’s literally like he said fuck you, you’re never sleeping again.” 


End file.
